


Hope for Christmas

by Lygtemanden



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Hopeful Ending, Letters to Santa, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2013-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-04 19:02:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3083816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lygtemanden/pseuds/Lygtemanden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Secret Snarry Swap 2013 - posted a year later on the 1st Jan 2015</p><p>Prompt #32 - Even though he knew it was senseless and a complete waste of time, every year since he was four, Severus wrote a letter to Father Christmas.</p><p>A/N: As requested, a hopeful ending.  Dear Prompter, I hope this is to your liking.  I’ve played a bit with the universe as it’s been a while since I really immersed myself in it; I hope it won’t ruin things if I have missed anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hope for Christmas

For the first time, Harry knocked on the door to the headmaster's private office a good few minutes early. As the resident healer at Hogwarts, he was more used to being late because of injuries from the day’s last lessons; there were almost always skin lesions to mend, bones to heal or whiskers to remove. Once he'd even had to remove a duplicate head from a seventh year student whose best friend had gotten a bit too enthusiastic in NEWT Transfiguration. All in all, the result of Harry’s unusual promptness was that Severus wasn't anywhere to be found when the wards allowed the door to swing open.

Noticing the door to the headmaster's official office slightly ajar, Harry moved towards it until he recognised one of the voices drifting through. Having no wish to talk to the current Minister of Magic, he quickly walked over to Severus' desk, intent on leaving a message if he could find a spare piece of parchment. He'd already started writing the note about not wanting to miss Honeydukes when his eyes fell on the top of a letter almost completely hidden by a stack of more official correspondence. 'Dear Saint Nicholas' were the only words visible, but they were more than enough to make him stop in his tracks.

Before he knew it, he'd found a fresh piece of parchment, placed it over the intriguing missive and cast a quick copy spell, before arranging the stack of letters in exactly the same way as he had found them. He only just remembered to finish his own note before he all but bolted out the door, intent on regaining his composure before meeting up with Severus for their weekly dinner in Hogsmeade.

\--

Harry met up with Severus outside Honeydukes just as they were closing, and together they made their way to The Three Broomsticks for their usual meal. It had started a year earlier, when Severus had almost out of the blue one night asked him to dinner. True, they had been slowly edging towards friendship, but it wasn't until they started spending Friday evenings together that they really got to know about one another.

The evening went far too quickly, in Harry's opinion, and soon they were saying goodnight at the gargoyle guarding the stairs to Severus' rooms. Harry could almost feel Severus' eyes on his back as he walked back towards Gryffindor tower, and it reminded him of the letter he had copied earlier. All of a sudden he couldn't wait to get back to his own rooms so that he could take a peek. Anything to help him figure out what to get his friend for Christmas would be welcome; Severus was not an easy man to shop for.

Once behind his own wards he quickly resized the letter before settling down in a chair by the fire to read.

 

_Dear Saint Nicholas,_

_I've been writing these letters since I was four years old even though I don’t remember a single year where I got what I wished for, at least until last year. I remember my mother helping me write the first one. It was, I think, very simple: a boy poor in money but rich in love. It was before my first display of magic, back when my dad didn't drink and was kind to both me and Mother._

_Later they were less magical and more concerned with getting back the love I had so callously lost when I said those words to my only friend, driving her away. I remember some of the one I wrote in those following dark years, how I asked for her back, or for the Dark Lord's favour. After that it was mostly forgiveness I wanted, something which remained a staple even though Albus said I had earned it all those years ago, a broken man on his doorstep._

_When I wrote to you last year I had only a single wish, which was to find the courage to ask a certain young man if he would consider going to dinner with me. I did, and it has been as delightful as I could have dreamed. He is witty and interesting, and capable of calming me with a word or two. He is everything I had hoped he would be, so this year I will make a final wish with regard to Harry._

_I wish for the courage to ask him if he would care to celebrate Winter Solstice with me, and if he agrees, I hope that I may finally find it in me to ask for his permission to court him for a year and a day in accordance with the old traditions. I am certain that should I find the courage to ask he will respond with kindness, even if the answer is a no, but I do wish that he will allow me to show him how well we would suit each other._

_I can think of nothing else that I would want this year._

 

_Yours,_

_Severus_

 

Having read the letter twice, Harry found himself staring into the fire in front of him. Going over all their interactions this past year, he could suddenly see that what he had taken as a headmaster trying to get to know one of his young members of staff was in fact Severus trying to get to know him as a person. He didn't know what to do about this; it was such a surprise to find out that the man he considered a close friend had romantic feelings for him.

Getting up, he carefully folded the letter before placing it in the fire; it wouldn't do for Severus to find it in his quarters, after all. With that, Harry went to bed, determined to mull over this new knowledge during the weekend; with a bit of luck, Severus wouldn't ask before their next dinner appointment, giving Harry a bit of time to think things through. Besides, he mused, he would have all of December to consider the courtship itself.

\--

Time flew as it always did in the run-up to the holidays, and Harry caught himself looking at Severus on several occasions, noticing for the first time all the little things that Severus did to make him feel welcome and special. Like preparing his first cup of tea as he approached the head table in the morning. Ensuring that the breadbasket next to him was always full at lunch, and sending a house-elf to remind him when he lost himself in the library just before dinner. And all the things Harry did in return, that somehow felt natural and as if this was how it was meant to be. Keeping an eye out for plants to use in potions on his walks through the Forbidden Forest, bringing his copy of the _Daily Prophet_ to breakfast if there was something he thought Severus should see, and ensuring that he had a small stash of the chocolate that Severus preferred and he himself didn't like in a small bowl on his coffee table. Seeing the chocolate sitting there on the table one day, he realised that they were for all intents and purposes already dating. It would just be adding that extra dimension of actual co-habitation and the sharing of a bed if they ended up together.

It had taken Harry almost two weeks, but he was ready to admit that he wanted Severus in his life, and in more ways than was the case right now.

The following Friday he put a bit more care into his appearance before dinner, and couldn't help smiling when Severus asked if he would care to join him to celebrate the Solstice.

"There is nothing I would enjoy more, Severus!"

 

-The End-


End file.
